1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for draining a liquid container and more particularly to a double drain for concurrently draining vertically spaced drain portions of a liquid container, such as a bathtub.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Bathtubs typically include a main drain opening in the bottom wall thereof. As the water is drained from the tub, the draining is normally quite slow and a portion of the soap and other foreign objects, which generally float atop the water, will collect on the sidewalls.
It has been discovered that less material will cling to the wall of a bathtub during draining if the surface water, and the soap and other foreign material therein, is skimmed off the surface before all of the water is drained from the tub. It has been found that a second drain opening provided in vertically spaced relation with the bottom drain opening functions as a skimmer which skims off the foreign material, such as before it collects on the tub sidewall. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel drain for a liquid container, such as a bathtub, including vertically spaced, upper and lower drains.
It is another object of the present invention to provide drain apparatus of the type described which includes a vertical drainpipe having a pair of vertically spaced drain openings, vertically spaced valves disposed in the drainpipe for opening and closing closing the openings, and mechanism for concurrently moving the valves between the open and closed positions.
The apparatus constructed according to the present invention includes axially aligned, hollow valve cylinders which are received in the vertical drainpipe and are selectively movable to and from positions blocking the openings. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and novel drain apparatus including a cylindrical drain stopper having vertical passages therethrough.
The U.S. Pat. No. 1,901,649, issued to O.B. Huber, on Mar. 14, 1933 and the U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,197, issued to Gerald E. Christiansen, on Sept. 26, 1972, are illustrative of the usual single drain wherein a cylindrical tubular plug is employed. In the prior art bath drains, however, such as that disclosed in the above referenced patents, there is no concept of providing a second drain nor the concept of having axially aligned, concurrently movable hollow cylindrical valves disposed within a drainpipe.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,952, issued to A.D. Agnellino on Oct. 26, 1971, discloses a hydrotherapeutic bathtub having a floor drain and a wall outlet in vertically spaced relation thereto, however, the wall outlet provides a return circulation path for liquid circulated via a pump to in-tub discharge ports and is not a waste drain.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art as the description thereof proceeds.